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Vegan Creamy Pumpkin and Cashew Curry Pizza

In a couple weeks I’m hosting a pizza get-together. It’s a house re-warming party :P. I’ve invited friends to bring their favorite toppings and I’ll have different types of dough and sauces. I’m making the standard Mark Bittman pizza dough, a whole-wheat version of the same, the semolina bread version from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. I’ve made all of them before, so I know they work and work well. I’ve been wanting to try the Quick Beer Pizza Dough from the King Arthur Flour catalog for awhile and thought it would be great for the party.

When I was in San Francisco last month, I had lunch with one of my bestest friends from high school, Melissa, and her sweet pea of a daughter, Sam. Melissa took me to Zante Pizza & Indian Cuisine in the Mission District for vegetarian Indian Pizza. I’ve been craving Indian pizza since then and wanted to try the beer dough before using it for the party. I found a recipe for Creamy Pumpkin and Cashew Curry in the October 2009 issue of bon appetit and thought it would be a perfect topping for a pizza on Vegan Tuesday.

I liked making the curry because it was the first time I used a whole pumpkin in cooking/baking, the first time I used curry leaves, and I love the spices/smells of Indian cuisine. What I didn’t like was the coconut cream. It made the curry too sweet and even adding curry powder and more spices didn’t cut the sweetness. I should have went with my first though which was not to use the cream or to only use 1/2 the amount. I now have a 1/2 bottle of coconut cream. I guess I will have to have a piña colada party. 😛

The pizza dough came together quickly. I divided it into 5 ounce portions, using one for my pizza and freezing the rest. The dough was delicious. Baked up beautifully and the beer flavor was subtle. I was a bit worried about that because I was worried the stout I used may have been too intense.

Wwowwwza Wendy, You have been a busy girl lately. The pizza party is coming up soon? How exciting, the planning and the party. Hope all goes well. The pizza sounds really delish and I’m sure the ones made at the party will be so interesting with the wide variety of toppings. How fun
AmyRuth

Ooh, how did I miss this post and this delectable pizza? Pumpkin curry sounds fabulous, and I’d agree with you about omitting the coconut cream. I’m not a big fan of coconut cream/milk in my curry, so I have to be picky in a Thai restaurant. Luckily Indian curries seem to avoid that problem. If I were a guest at your pizza party I don’t think I could pick a crust – they all sound fabulous.